Elevator attachment



(No Muriel.) 2 sheets-'sheet 2.

I. T. DYER. ELEVATOR UFTAGHMBNT.l

No. 559,44@l Patented May 5, 1896.

C 4 Tg5,

E n v M NrrED STATES ATENT Fries.

ISAAC T. DYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF 'IVO-TI-IIRDS TO RICARD OSULLIVAN BURKE AND .IOIIN R. COFFEY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELEVATOR ATTACH lVI ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,444, dated May 5, 1896.

Application led August 20, 1895. Serial No. 559,890. (No model.)

an attachment for an elevator an air-pump,

to be actuated by the gravity of the loaded elevator-cab in descending, to produce a supply of compressed air for some useful purpose, such as that of driving the elevator-engine, thereby utilizing the otherwise waste force of the descending load.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a broken view showing 'an elevator-cab in elevation provided with my im.- proved attachment, shown partly broken and partly in section. Fig. 2 is a broken sectional View showinga modified construction of my improved attachment, the section being taken at the line 2 on Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 3, a section taken through the rotary shaft upon which the elevator-cable is wound in raising the cab and showing the ratchet and eccentric details of my improved attachment in elevation; Fig. 4, a section taken at the line on Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 5, a section taken at the line 5 on Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrow, and Fig. G a view in elevation of the entire elevator provided with my improved attachment in its modified form represented by Fig. 2.

Adenotes the elevator-cab supported on its shaft by the cable C, fastened to be wound upon and unwound from the overhead drum D on the rotary shaft E, all in the usual or any suitable manner of supporting an elevator-cab. On the shaft E are firmly fastened, to rotate with it, the flanged collars or boxes F, the annular flanges r of which extend toward each other and carry on their inner sides,

at suitable distances apart, the pivotal dogs q. Loosely supported upon the shaft E, inside the collars F, is an eccentric Gr, having formed upon its opposite sides, or rigidly fastened thereto, the ratchet-wheels H H, with which the dogs q engage.

The mechanism thus described is indicated by a dotted representation in Fig. 1, but is the same as that more clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 as applied to thel shaft E'.

For the sake of convenience, to enable my attachment to be applied to a shaft E without requiring the latter to be disturbed from its operative position I form the collars F and the eccentric Gwith the ratchet-wheels thereon in halves, whereby they may be applied to the shaft and then be bolted together, as indicated.

From the eccentric G there extends an arm G', which is pivotally connected at its outer end with that of the rod p of a piston p in a cylinder I, having the inlets o at one side near the opposite ends ofthe stroke of the piston, and the outlets o in its opposite side near the opposite ends of said stroke.

K is an air-supply pipe having branches n n containing inwardly-opening check-valves n and leading to the inlets o, and K' is a discharge-pipe having branches m m containing outwardly-opening check-valves and leading to the outlets o.

As shown in Fig. l, the pipe K affords the common discharge-pipe for more than one elevator provided each with my improved attachment, and it leads by a branch K2 to the point of utilization of compressed air or to storage for the same.

Theoperation of the attachment as thus described is as follows: When the loaded elevater-cab A descends, the rotation of the shaft E, by carrying with it the collars F, causes the dogs thereon to engage the ratchet-teeth and thereby work the eccentric G, thus causing the piston p by its connection with the eccentric to be reciprocated, as the result of which air is sucked through an inlet o with each stroke and forced through an outlet o at each stroke under pressure into the dischargepipes K K2. In the direction in which the drum D turns to lift the cab Athe dogs q slip over the ratchets, so that the air-pump afforded by the piston and cylinder mechanism is not then actuated, thus avoiding the subj ection of the elevator to the extra load or resistance of the pump. Then it is desired to IOO multiply the strokes of the piston p as to double them in each rotation of the shaft E, the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 maybe employed,wherein a sprocket-wheel l is provided on the shaft E and the collars F with their dogs r, the eccentric G and ratchets II are carried by a rotary counter-shaft E', on which is provided a smaller sprocketwheel Z, connected with the sprocket-wheel Z on the shaft E by an endless chain Z2, and the eccentric G is connected by its arm G from the shaft E with the piston-rod p of the air-pump.

By the view presented in Fig. G, which is diagrammatic in its nature, I show how my improved attachment may be connected with a hydraulic elevator system of known construction. By this view the modified construction of the attachment, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is employed, and the inlet-pipes n to the pump are shown on the top of the cylinder I, while the outlet-pipes m are shown as extending from the under side thereof. From the outlets m there leads the discharge-pipe KS to a compressed-air holder L, from which the compressed air is supplied through a valve-controlled pipe z' to apump M, discharging into a stand-pipe M,which leads from the overhead water-tank N to the elevator-cylinder O, the latter discharging into a tank P, from which the water is sucked by the pump M through a pipe 7i and forced back into the tank N, to be used over and over again.

As will be seen, the connection I provide between the air-pump and the power which drives it, as the shaft E or the counter-shaft E', is in the nature of an automatic eccentricclutch operating to engage the shaft with the pump in the descent of the elevator-cab and to disengage it therefrom in the ascent of the cab.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In combination with the hoisting-shaft of an elevator-cab, an air-pump, and connections between said pump and shaft actuated, by the descent of' the cab, to engage the pump with the shaft and to disengage it therefrom by the ascent of the cab, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the hoisting-shaft of an elevator-cab, an air-pump, and an eccentric-clutch device connecting` the pump with said shaft and actuated to engage the pump therewith by the descent of the cab and to disengage it therefrom by the ascent of the cab, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the hoisting-shaft of an elevator-cab, an air-pump and means for operating it in the descent of the cab and for disconnecting it in the ascent thereof, comprising a fianged collar F secured on a rotary shaft to turn therewith and carrying one or more dogs q at its flange, an eccentric G carrying a ratchet II and loosely supported on said shaft in position to engage said dogs with said ratchet, and a stem G connecting the eccentric with the piston-rod of the pump, sub stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with the hoisting-shaft of an elevator-cab, an air-pump and means for operating it in the descent of the cab and disconnecting it in the ascent thereof, comprising flanged collars F secured on a rotary shaft to turn therewith and carrying dogs q at their flanges, an eccentric G carrying ratchets H and loosely supported on said shaft between said collars, said ratchets being engaged by the dogs, and a stem G' connecting the eccentric with the piston-rod of the pump, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In combination with the hoisting-shaft of an elevator-cab, an air-pump and means for operating it in the descent of the cab and for disconnecting it in the ascent thereof, comprising a counter-shaft E geared to said hoisting-shaft, flanged collars F secured on said counter-shaft and carrying dogs q at their flanges, an cccen tric G carrying ratchets II and loosely supported on said counter-shaft between said collars, said ratchets being engaged by the dogs, and a stem G connecting the eccentric with the piston-rod of the pump, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ISAAC T. DYER.

In presence of J. N. HANsoN, J. H. LEE. 

